All the World's a Product Placement

That brave new world where you'll auction off the corporate naming rights for your newborn infant on eBay and have commercials for Target and T-Mobile zapped directly into your REM sleep? It's about 18 months off, judging from current trends. This week's news brings us three baby steps in that direction:

1)Care for a Snickers with Your Soft-core Lesbian Erotica?: Wait, did you think that $150 a year you've been spending for premium cable meant you don't have to watch commercials like all the suckers? That is so cute! No, actually, you are the sucker -- or will be, once other premium-cable shows start taking after The L Word and writing sponsors into the story lines.

2)Wolf Blitzer's Underground Army: Not only will you soon be able to talk on your cell phone in the subway -- you'll be able to watch Anderson Cooper 360 and American Morning. CNN has a deal with New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority to install screens that will broadcast the channel in six commuter hubs. But don't feel too bad for Fox News: Supposedly it's getting preferential treatment at McDonald's restaurants.

3)Fish Wrap: Always obsessed with real estate, The New York Times continues to discover more and more of its own that can be sold to advertisers. This weekend's Times Magazine will feature a cover wrap paid for by U.S. Trust. This follow's last week's single-sponsor edition of Play, the paper's glossy sports supplement.

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